Congress, Media Continue CPSC Attacks
Suddenly it's the agency's fault.
Writing in the Albany Times Union, Marianne Means calls the state of the Consumer Product Safety "a national embarrassment". The Washington Post stopped just short of editorializing its CPSC news although reporter Annys Shin was quick to paint a business v. consumer and House v. Senate battle scenario.
What is happening now is a national disgrace. After years of gutting federal consumer protection, this spring and summer saw big cases reach the public's consciousness. Suddenly, the average consumer wanted to know about consumer protection, which is something we consumer advocates have been trying to talk with them about for over a decade. Tax cuts, celebrities in jail for two hours at a time and American Idol took the place of paying attention to the products we use and consume.
One can imagine a U-shaped curve showing American interest in consumerism peaking with Ralph Nader's crusades decades ago, bottoming out during the "greed is good" phase and peaking again with word about shoddy products endangering us. CPSC Commissioner Nord gets that issue. In Nord's testimony to Congress (pdf link) weeks ago, she reminded Congress that the CPSC had not been reauthorized since 1990. In her words:
"Most of America's consumer products, not just toys, now come from overseas manufacturers. Much has changed in the marketplace, in technology and in communications since 1990. The result is that the inspection and enforcement tools at the agency's disposal with respect to imported products are not as strong as they need to be."
Nord also pointed out two very critical issues that most pundits seem to miss:
* Relative to the USDA and FDA's groups tasked with product safety, the CPSC has a minuscule amount of resources available.
* As Nord testified, the CPSC does not have ultimate authority on imports. By statute, Customs and Border Protection has the direct authority to deal with failures of import goods.
So while America pounds the wardrums for being exposed to potentially dangerous products in an all-you-can eat land of dollar stores and low cost providers trumping quality nearly every time, a balanced look at the issue is appropriate.
The CPSC failed because Congress, and by extension the American people, continually cut the agency's resources. This was followed by nearly a generation of not acknowledging the global marketplace, all of which stopped the CPSC from doing an effective job.
Why not work with the agency on a go-forward plan, a tactic we've now suggested three times, instead of starting with a new agency. Holding an entity accountable for circumstances beyond its control and mandate is a national embarrassment, exactly what one would expect when stories of what DVDs are on sale and the middle of the pro football season knock the tragic story of 3,000 people dead in Bangladesh off the front page of most newspapers.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Stripped Down CPSC Continues Struggling
In various recall notices, we have repeatedly said that now is not the time for recriminations about the recall process in the U.S. Apparently House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), where CA most definitely does not stand for consumer affairs, is calling for CPSC head Nancy Nord (pictured) to resign.
The entire recall system is broken, but it's not broken because of anything Nancy Nord did or didn't do. It's broken because years of budget cuts cut the agency to shreds. It's broken because the CPSC doesn't have control over things the USDA and FDA control. It's broken because consumerism was stripped out of the federal government when the Office of Consumer Affairs was shuttered almost a decade ago. While OCA didn't recall items, they were one more official voice that could summon resources for consumers.
So the OCA is killed off, the CPSC's budget is torn to shreds over years and suddenly Representative Pelosi wants Nancy Nord to resign? Why? Apparently the issue stems from Nord's comments to not overwhelm the agency's infrastructure with money and resources now, but to let them create a cogent plan to increase resources and responsibility.
The political grandstanding has no place in this debate. One does not right a decade of wrongs by writing a check. You don't double an agency's budget in a dysfunctional federal government bureaucracy and then scream for scalps when caution, prudence and good planning is suggested.
Here is an idea for consumers reading this today. Call someone who represents you in Congress and urge them to support the CPSC, but to give them time to create a strong moving-forward plan. If you happen to be a big donor to political campaigns, reminding the office of that certainly wouldn't hurt.
You can call Representative Pelosi's office too. Faced with multiple defeats and the inability to muster enough votes to override a lame duck President when she has control of the House, the Speaker is now going after soft targets.
She ought to be ashamed of her behavior. The CPSC does need help and does need reform. Getting rid of people who actually know what is going on is not the way to do that.
In various recall notices, we have repeatedly said that now is not the time for recriminations about the recall process in the U.S. Apparently House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), where CA most definitely does not stand for consumer affairs, is calling for CPSC head Nancy Nord (pictured) to resign.The entire recall system is broken, but it's not broken because of anything Nancy Nord did or didn't do. It's broken because years of budget cuts cut the agency to shreds. It's broken because the CPSC doesn't have control over things the USDA and FDA control. It's broken because consumerism was stripped out of the federal government when the Office of Consumer Affairs was shuttered almost a decade ago. While OCA didn't recall items, they were one more official voice that could summon resources for consumers.
So the OCA is killed off, the CPSC's budget is torn to shreds over years and suddenly Representative Pelosi wants Nancy Nord to resign? Why? Apparently the issue stems from Nord's comments to not overwhelm the agency's infrastructure with money and resources now, but to let them create a cogent plan to increase resources and responsibility.
The political grandstanding has no place in this debate. One does not right a decade of wrongs by writing a check. You don't double an agency's budget in a dysfunctional federal government bureaucracy and then scream for scalps when caution, prudence and good planning is suggested.
Here is an idea for consumers reading this today. Call someone who represents you in Congress and urge them to support the CPSC, but to give them time to create a strong moving-forward plan. If you happen to be a big donor to political campaigns, reminding the office of that certainly wouldn't hurt.
You can call Representative Pelosi's office too. Faced with multiple defeats and the inability to muster enough votes to override a lame duck President when she has control of the House, the Speaker is now going after soft targets.
She ought to be ashamed of her behavior. The CPSC does need help and does need reform. Getting rid of people who actually know what is going on is not the way to do that.
